fun  tv.  of  Ilf,  Library 
54 


Oak  Street 


'  STATE  BOARD  OF  HEALTH. 

A  Guide  to  its  Exhibit 

AT  THE 

World’s  Columbian  Exposition, 

Department  of  Hygiene  and  Sanitation, 

ANTHROPOLOGICAL  BUILDING. 

# 


1893. 


State  Board  of  Health  of  Massachusetts 


HENRY  P.  WALCOTT,  M  D  ,  Chairman. 


JOSEPH  W.  HASTINGS,  M.D. 
HIRAM  F.  MILLS,  C.E. 
FRANK  W.  DRAPER,  M  D. 


GERARD  C.  TOBEY,  Esq. 
Gen.  MORRIS  SCHAFF. 
ELIJAH  U.  JONES,  M.D. 


SAMUEL  W.  ABBOTT,  M.D.,  Secretary. 

JOSEPH  P.  DAVIS,  C  E.,  Consulting  Engineer. 

FREDERIC  P.  STEARNS,  C.E.,  Chief  Engineer. 

CHARLES  P.  WORCESTER,  M.D.,  Analyst  of  Food  and  Drugs. 

Prof.  CHARLES  A.  GOESSMANN,  Analyst  of  Milk. 

THOMAS  M.  DROWN,  M.D.,  Chemist,  underWater  Supply  and  Sewer¬ 
age  Act. 

WILLIAM  T.  SEDGWICK,  Ph.D.,  Biologist,  under  Water  Supply  and 
Sewerage  Act. 

ALLEN  HAZEN,  S.B  ,  Chemist  in  charge,  Lawrence  Experiment  Station. 

GEORGE  W.  FULLER,  S  B  ,  Biologist  in  charge,  Lawrence  Experiment 
Station. 


Office  at  13  Beacon  Street,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 


*l< ^S-if 


THE  EXHIBIT. 


Visitors  are  invited  to  observe  that  the  exhibit  occupies 
two  adjoining  courts  or  pavilions. 

In  the  principal  court  will  be  found  :  — 


H 

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1.  Diagrams  and  charts,  a  part  of  which  are  in  the  swing- 

frames,  illustrating  the  general  work  of  the  Board  upon 
Life  and  Health,  Diseases  and  Epidemics,  Vital  Sta¬ 
tistics,  Comparative  Mortality,  and  the  Influence  of 
the  Density  of  Population  upon  the  Purlic  Health. 

2.  A  model  of  the  Lawrence  Experiment  Station,  and  Pho¬ 

tographs,  Charts,  Sands,  Sewages,  Effluents,  Sections 
of  Filters,  a  typical  Experimental  Filter,  Apparatus 
and  other  material  illustrating  the  work  of  the  Law¬ 
rence  Experiment  Station  of  the  State  Board  of  Health 
of  Massachusetts,  the  first  of  the  kind  established  in 
America. 

3.  The  Department  of  Food  and  Drug  Inspection,  showing 

types  of  injurious  or  fraudulent  adulterations  found  in 
Massachusetts,  with  diagrams  illustrating  the  relative  prev¬ 
alence  of  adulterations  observed  since  the  department 
was  inaugurated,  the  cost  of  the  service,  etc. 

4.  Some  of  the  practical  results  of  long-continued  Examina¬ 

tions  of  the  Water  Supplies  of  Massachusetts  made  by 
the  State  Board  of  Health.  The  large  Normal  Chlorine 
map  of  the  State  on  the  east  wall  may  be  particularly 
referred  to  as  entirely  novel  and  unique.  Its  full  mean¬ 
ing  and  practical  importance  will  be  explained  by  the 
custodian. 

5.  Models  of  Trichinae,  with  charts  bearing  upon  Trichinosis 

in  Massachusetts. 

6.  The  Official  Reports,  blanks  and  other  documents  of  the 

Board  which  form  a  part  of  its  regular  and  routine  work. 

3 


UBR4RY  - 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


ANNEX. 


In  the  smaller  pavilion,  or  Annex,  is  a  further  exhibit, 
consisting  of  some  of  the  practical  results  of  the  scientific 
investigations  of  the  Board,  etc.  :  — 

1.  Advice  to  Cities  and  Towns  concerning  Water  Supply 

and  Sewerage,  with  statistics  showing  the  extent  and 
character  of  this  service  to  the  Commonwealth. 

2.  Photographs  of  Sewage  Fields  already  in  actual  operation, 

with  plans  of  the  principal  filter  beds  thus  far  con¬ 
structed. 

3.  Maps  and  plans  of  the  Metropolitan  System  of  Sewerage 

for  Boston  and  its  neighboring  cities  and  towns,  which 
was  recommended  by  the  Board  after  careful  inquiry 
and  adopted  by  the  Commonwealth  with  an  appropria¬ 
tion  of  $5,000,000. 

4.  Plans  of  the  Sand  Filters  designed  by  Hiram  F.  Mills, 

Esq.,  C.E.,  and  now  approaching  completion,  for  puri¬ 
fying  the  Water  Supply  of  the  City  of  Lawrence,  Mass. 

5.  An  Act  just  passed  by  the  Legislature  directing  the  State 

Board  of  Health  to  Investigate  and  Report  upon  the 
Problem  of  Metropolitan  Water  Supply  for  Boston 
and  its  neighboring  cities  and  towns,  and  appropriating 
for  the  investigation  the  sum  of  $40,000. 

C.  Photographs  of  the  Sewage  Precipitation  Works  of  the 
City  of  Worcester,  which  are  of  interest  because  the 
principal  example  in  Massachusetts  of  sewage  disposal 
by  chemical  precipitation. 

Further  information  concerning  the  Exhibit  or  the  work 
of  the  Board  may  be  obtained  from  the  custodian,  who  will 
also,  upon  request,  grant  access  to  the  Reports  and  other 
Documents  of  the  Board. 


4 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

The  State  Board  of  Health  of  Massachusetts  had 
its  origin  as  early  as  1849,  but  was  not  established  by  law 
until  twenty  years  later.  The  year  1849  was  one  of  unusual 
sickness  and  mortality  throughout  the  State.  Typhoid  fever, 
dysentery  and  scarlet-fever  had  prevailed  to  an  unusual  ex¬ 
tent,  and,  in  addition  to  these,  Asiatic  cholera  had  invaded  the 
State  and  destroyed  about  twelve  hundred  of  its  population. 

In  that  year,  by  authority  of  the  Legislature,  a  commis¬ 
sion  was  appointed  to  report  upon  the  sanitary  condition  of 
the  State.  One  of  the  primary  recommendations  of  this 
commission  advised  the  establishment  of  a  “  general  board  of 
health,”  the  functions  of  which  were  very  clearly  stated,  and 
when  the  board  was  finally  established  in  1869,  under  the 
title  of  the  State  Board  of  Health  and  Vital  Statistics,  it  was 
organized  very  nearly  in  accord  with  the  suggestions  of  the 
sanitary  commission  of  1849. 

The  Board  was  reorganized,  with  enlarged  powers,  in  1886. 

POWERS  AND  DUTIES  OF  THE  BOARD. 

The  general  powers  and  duties  of  the  Board  are  presented 
in  the  following  section  of  the  organic  law  providing  for  its 
establishment :  — 

The  state  board  of  health  shall  take  cognizance  of  the  interests  of 
health  and  life  among  the  citizens  of  the  Commonwealth.  It  shall 
make  sanitary  investigations  and  inquiries  in  respect  to  the  causes  of 
disease,  and  especially  of  epidemics  and  the  sources  of  mortality  and 
the  effects  of  localities,  employments,  conditions  and  circumstances,  on 
the  public  health  ;  and  shall  gather  such  information  in  respect  to  those 
matters  as  it  may  deem  proper  for  diffusion  among  the  people.  It  shall 
advise  the  government  in  regard  to  the  location  and  other  sanitary  con¬ 
ditions  of  any  public  institutions. 

The  powers  conferred  upon  the  Board  by  the  provisions  of 
this  act  have  been  enlarged  from  time  to  time,  as  the  health 
of  the  population  appeared  to  require.  Co-ordinate  powers 
with  local  boards  of  health  were  conferred  upon  the  Board, 
to  be  used  in  time  of  epidemics,  or  upon  such  occasions  as 
might  be  necessary. 


5 


FOOD  AND  DRUG  INSPECTION. 

By  an  act  of  1871  the  Board  was  given  authority  to  con¬ 
trol  the  operation  of  such  offensive  trades  as  might  become 
a  nuisance  to  neighboring  populations.  A  statute  of  1882 
gave  to  the  Board  the  supervision  of  food  and  drug  inspec¬ 
tion  throughout  the  State.  The  examination  of  milk  and 
milk  products  was  to  form  an  important  part  of  the  work. 
The  Board  appointed  analysts  and  inspectors  under  this  act, 
and  has  accomplished  a  useful  work  in  the  protection  of 
the  people  from  harm  and  fraud  from  the  sale  of  adulterated 
food  products.  The  good  work  done  in  this  direction  has 
been  recognized  not  only  by  other  States  but  also  by  the 
United  States  government. 

From  1882  up  to  the  present  time  nearly  fifty  thousand 
samples  of  food  and  drugs  have  been  examined,  and  about 
nine  hundred  prosecutions  have  been  conducted  against  of¬ 
fenders ;  and  in  many  instances  harmful  and  fraudulent  forms 
of  adulteration  have  been  entirely  suppressed  within  the  bor¬ 
ders  of  the  State.  (See  exhibit  in  the  Main  Pavilion.) 

PROTECTION  OF  INLAND  WATERS. 

By  another  wise  provision  of  the  Legislature,  a  law  was 
passed  in  1886,  entitled  “  An  Act  to  protect  the  purity  of 
inland  waters,”  by  which  the  State  Board  of  Health  was  con¬ 
stituted  a  board  of  guardians  over  the  water  supplies  and  in¬ 
land  waters  of  Massachusetts.  Under  the  provisions  of  this 
act  the  Board  is  authorized  to  make  examinations  of  the 
domestic  water  supplies  of  the  State,  and  to  conduct  experi¬ 
ments  for  determining  the  best  practicable  methods  of  purify¬ 
ing  sewage.  The  authorities  of  cities,  towns,  corporations 
and  individuals  are  required  to  seek  the  advice  of  the  Board 
relative  to  the  best  methods  of  securing  pure  water  supplies 
and  introducing  proper  systems  of  sewerage  and  sewage  dis¬ 
posal.  (See  exhibits  in  Main  Pavilion  and  in  Annex.) 

LAWRENCE  EXPERIMENT  STATION. 

For  the  continuous  work  required  by  this  act  the  Board 
secured  the  services  of  the  best  engineers,  chemists  and  biolo¬ 
gists,  began  a  careful  examination  of  all  the  public  water  sup- 


6 


plies  of  the  State,  established  an  experiment  station  —  the  first 
in  America  —  near  the  Merrimac  River  at  Lawrence,  and  has 
published  annual  reports  upon  its  work,  together  with  special 
reports  upon  the  subjects  of  water  supply  and  sewerage.  (See 
models  and  exhibit  in  Main  Pavilion.) 

METROPOLITAN  SEWERAGE  SYSTEM. 

In  addition  to  this  general  work  the  Board  was  intrusted 
in  1887  with  the  duty  of  devising  and  reporting  a  comprehen¬ 
sive  plan  of  sewerage  and  sewage  disposal  for  the  eighteen 
cities  and  towns  comprising  the  suburban  district  north  and 
west  of  Boston.  The  report  was  made  to  the  Legislature  in 
1889,  an  appropriation  of  five  million  dollars  was  made  by 
the  State,  and  the  system  known  as  the  north  Metropolitan 
sewerage  system  is  now  approaching  completion,  substantially 
upon  the  plan  advised  by  the  Board.  (See  charts  in  Annex.) 

A  METROPOLITAN  WATER  SUPPLY. 

By  an  act  of  the  present  year  the  Board  is  also  required 
to  investigate  the  question  of  a  general  water  supply  for  the 
Metropolitan  district,  comprising  Boston  and  its  suburbs  to  a 
distance  of  ten  miles,  and  to  report  upon  the  same  in  January, 
1895.  This  district  contains  about  one  million  inhabitants. 

OTHER  SPECIAL  INVESTIGATIONS. 

The  Board  has  also  made  many  other  investigations  upon 
subjects  pertaining  to  the  public  health,  some  of  which  were 
authorized  by  special  legislative  resolves,  and  others  were 
taken  up  as  independent  lines  of  inquiry.  Among  these  were 
the  sale  and  use  of  opium,  arsenic  in  wall-papers  and  fabrics, 
natural  and  artificial  ice  supplies,  oleomargarine,  the  estab¬ 
lishment  of  abattoirs,  intemperance,  school  hygiene,  lead 
poisoning,  the  growth  of  children,  the  management  and  con¬ 
trol  of  infectious  diseases,  sewage  disposal,  water  filtration, 
the  relation  of  rags  to  public  health,  disinfection,  malarial 
fever,  vital  statistics,  etc. 

The  average  annual  appropriations  for  carrying  out  the 
work  of  the  Board  in  its  different  lines  for  the  past  six  years 
have  been  about  forty-nine  thousand  dollars  ($49,000). 


7 


UNIVERStTY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


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